Capt. Natalie Maldonado is settling into her new job running the 76th Precinct, which encompasses Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Red Hook, and part of Gowanus. Maldonado is the first female commanding officer at the 76 in 25 years, and the only one in Brooklyn today.

She only found out about the appointment on Jan. 30, and less than a week later, she was at her new post.

“This is like having my birthday and Christmas all at the same time,” she said.

Maldonado replaces Capt. Justin Lenz, who after two years in the precinct is moving to the 101st, in Queens. She has deep roots in Brooklyn, having grown up in Borough Park and spent all of her nearly two decades on the force working in the borough. She comes to the post from a job as commanding officer of Transit District 32, policing train lines across 10 precincts.

Maldonado is no stranger to the 76th Precinct. As a rookie, she was stationed in the neighboring 84th Precinct, and prior to working the subways, she oversaw anti-narcotics operations in Red Hook, including two major busts in 2012 and 2013 as part of a campaign called Operation Red Dawn. The push shared a name with the U.S. military offensive that resulted in the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, which in turn drew its name from the film “Red Dawn,” about Colorado high schoolers repelling a Soviet invasion.

Red Hook still has drug dealers, but they are mostly low-level suppliers who are not connected to large, more violent organized-crime syndicates, Maldonado said.

The publicly recorded categories of crime have been on the decline in the precinct during the past year. The most persistent types of misdeeds are bike thefts and car break-ins, Maldonado said. She urged locals to lock up their bikes and remove valuables from their cars, saying that the area’s liberal leanings, when accompanied by absentmindedness, mean easy pickings for thieves.

“People around here are socially conscious, and that means a lot of bikes, but it also means a lot of bike thefts,” she said. “I don’t think there are many bad people in the area, but there are opportunists who will commit a crime when it is right in front of them.”

Reach reporter Noah Hurowitz at nhurowitz@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–4505. Follow him on Twitter @noahhurowitz

Reasonable discourse

Black from Red hook says:

Yeah thats what she thinks, Maldonado needs to do some more research on r hood, straight up. Or someone needs to reinsure her This is Carroll gardens, red hook.. It holds the biggest housing projects in all of New York city...This ain't borough park or queens.. No this is not...Nothing like our old 76 precinct.. They were good, slick, they were hungry 10 , 12 years ago and even 15 years ago... Yes, they weren't afraid to run up in the pj's with guns blazing...

March 12, 2015, 12:17 am

Black from Red hook says:

Hey Natalie, I got news flash for ya, there is nothing but crazy people and bad ruthless people all over here, straight up.. I don't think u did ya homework either, check da police reports, crime is high and it's getting worse too.. Pls don't make my wife and I make trips to the district attorney office.. And the internal affairs dep.. We want to believe in u, we have faith in u... God bless u one

March 12, 2015, 1:02 am

Black from Red hook says:

Hey Natalie, I got news flash for ya, there is nothing but crazy people and bad ruthless people all over here, straight up.. I don't think u did ya homework either, check da police reports, crime is high and it's getting worse too.. Pls don't make my wife and I make trips to the district attorney office.. And the internal affairs dep.. We want to believe in u, we have faith in u... God bless u one

March 12, 2015, 1:02 am

Vinny from Union street says:

In fact it's getting worse too, it's not getting any better either, why u think I take in the prostitutes, I feel bad for them, I feel bad for the blacks girls, I take them in and they rub me down with cocoa butter and sexual hot oil, I hold them and make them feel like women, they get robbed down there, they stroke me, that's all I don't do anything with them they r just my friends

March 21, 2015, 8:17 pm

Vinny from Union street says:

I take all the project girls in, I feed them and give them shelter, that's all I don't do anything with them, they r my friends, their good people, good women, they rub me down and open me up

March 21, 2015, 8:20 pm

Comments closed.

First name

Last name

Your neighborhood

Email address

Daytime phone

Your letter must be signed and include all of the information requested above. (Only your name and neighborhood are published with the letter.) Letters should be as brief as possible; while they may discuss any topic of interest to our readers, priority will be given to letters that relate to stories covered by The Brooklyn Paper.

Letters will be edited at the sole discretion of the editor, may be published in whole or part in any media, and upon publication become the property of The Brooklyn Paper. The earlier in the week you send your letter, the better.